Mountain Runaways is about three siblings caught in a terrible situation. The eldest, Jon, is a little naïve but forced to become the head of the family after losing their parents. Korka, the middle sister, deals with her emotions by rebelling against authorities. The youngest, Aron, imagines himself on an adventure as a Viking. He’s treated differently by adults because he doesn’t like to speak.

Having siblings myself, I thought the book does a great job portraying their complicated relationships, and how they learn things about each other during this intense adventure. Not being well-versed in natural living, I can’t vouch for the accuracy of the scenes – especially those involving wild animals – but I was entertained nonetheless. I feel sorry for the siblings because while the ending seems optimistic, it still doesn't erase their pain. The book deals with grief, loss of parents, animal deaths, and violent strangers, so while this would be a good survival story for YA readers, proceed with caution!

This book sounded so interesting I needed to read it. I loved the idea and the beginning, but it felt like the book wasn't at its full potential. This was really sad, because the premise is great. It felt a bit hard to get through. I loved the characters, but they weren't amazing. I have a feeling that this book will be liked by many, but not loved.

Following a tragedy, three siblings are in survival mode. This book is adventurous yet evocative of sentimental feelings. Perhaps because of the sibling bond being front and centre in this book. An interesting plot and excellent characters make reading this book a memorable experience

This book is great. The story was wonderful, it’s well detailed so you always had a good picture of the scene in your mind whilst reading. I also really enjoyed the learning/survival points in the book. I learnt a lot from it.

The only thing I would wish this book to have would be the outcome/further explanation of the parents death which led to the whole story. But it does end on a note that leaves it open for another book (I hope)

This book is a pretty solid example of the survival story. We get a trio of kids matching wits with nature, using the knowledge their parents gave them to keep themselves alive. Their personality differences provide the bulk of the conflict. Most of the plot complications are the result of random bad luck. There are some unique details but the plot goes a lot of the places we would expect. The plot is simple and focused largely on practicalities rather than any character development, but it remains a fairly exciting read.

This book had such an interesting premise, a great idea to work with, and the seedlings of fabulous characters all contained within it. Sadly, what happened is all of this amazing potential was unfortunately stifled by writing too underdeveloped in style to bring any of it to fruition. The premise couldn’t be brought to a full and epic tale due to both the length of the novel and some unknown limitation of the prose and/or the author, the idea was great but ultimately not taken to the extremes it could’ve been taken for a full and dramatic effect, and the seedlings of great characters the book contained were also stifled and stilted until they seemed both cookie-cutter and somewhat unrealistic. On the whole, this book could’ve been so much better than it was, and it makes me sad it was left the way it is. Given time and more workshopping, it could’ve been so much better. It’s an okay book, but it’s not the best book either.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dundurn Press for allowing me access to an early copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

When an avalanche kills their parents Jon, Korka and Aron decide to run away into the mountains so they won't have to be separated. At least till Jon turns 18 and can become their guardian. Seems impossible but if anyone can do it they can for their parents ran a survival school.

Grabs your attention from the start with natural and relatable dialogue. Some of the descriptions are quite inventive and hit home on the emotional front. The author puts you right in the action with all the many details. They have to fight the elements, avoid people looking for them and have a few more unexpected surprises. So much happens you won't believe it! Interesting to learn about survival skills and the wilderness.

I really liked that each child was given a voice with their own POVs. The sibling relationships are done quite well, with Jon the self-appointed leader having the weight of the world on his shoulders, Korka having an opinion about everything, and Aron wanting to show that he is as sufficient as his older siblings. Aron is my favorite sibling. He is on the spectrum and I believe his autism is depicted well. He is very intelligent and just so loveable.

The flashback/memories often feel like they are interrupting the story. Also the narrative sometimes feels like someone is giving a report, but mostly it is full of heart.

Themes the book presents are family and grief, dealing with our emotional 'baggage' and evolving, and the extraordinary strength of the human spirit to survive. A quick enjoyable read of an outdoor adventure with an emotional journey of a family, a journey that we can all relate to.

Exciting young adults adventure tale

This was an exciting young adults adventure tale but this adult enjoyed it too.

Jon, Korka, and Aron Gunnarsson live in a small town in the Canadian Rockies of Alberta, Canada with their parents. Their parents run a survival school and all three of the siblings have been involved with it their whole lives.

When a tragic accident leaves the three young people on their own, they decide to run away into the wilderness until 17 year-old Jon turns 18 in three months and can legally raise his siblings by himself. But Children's Services, Law Enforcement and their neighbors have other ideas and the siblings just want to stay together.

I enjoyed this adventure tale very much. I really would have liked it as a youngster. Lots of survival talk, lots of action, and lots of teaching moments.

I highly recommend this book to young adults and us grownups, too, that like a good adventure novel.

I received this book from Dundurn Press through Edelweiss and Net Galley in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.

I highly recommend this book for all young adults. It tells the story of Aron, Jon and Korka who have to endure what no other children should endure, the loss of their parents. In order to remain as a family, and whilst dealing with their grief they head off into the mountains to hide from authority. Their quest to remain together, and deal with their own individual emotions is poignant.
It has highly earned its right to be on classroom bookshelves!

Thanks to Netgalley for the arc.

I’m a sucker for survival stories and was swept into the tragic situation that Jon, Korka, and Aron face after witnessing their parents killed in an avalanche. While some of the survival tips and tricks seemed a bit forced, I enjoyed the sibling rivalry and camaraderie.

An avalanche has just killed the parents of the Gunnarson kids, Jon (17), Korka (14) and Aron (10). Now, child services is threatening to separate them. Determined to keep together, the siblings decide to take their chances in the mountains. They have the advantage since their late parents ran a wilderness survival school and taught their children at every opportunity how to survive in the wild. But they have two months until Jon turns eighteen and is able to claim custody and it turns out, surviving in the wilderness isn't as easy as they thought.

This is the second adventure book I've read in a row and I have really enjoyed both! The tension in this story had so many different sources and I think the author nailed the sibling dynamic. As an oldest sibling I really related to Jon and I could totally see myself in so many of the squabbles and frustrations as well as the responsibility and pressure he felt. I liked how their grief over their parents wasn't forgotten but was explored in different ways as the story went on.

I really liked the mystery element to how their parents died but was a little disappointed that the resolution wasn't as final as I'd hoped. I could tell that the setting was well researched and it almost made me want to go camping! Almost, haha. If you like fun adventure books I would recommend checking this one out on Netgalley or later on when it's released! Happy Reading :)

It definitely semmed very interesting but i had doubts whether i could connect with the story and it did. I was completely hooked up since the first five chapters and then i just couldnt stop. Its an amazing fast paced book that will keep you on your toes every chapter wandering what will happen next. I could emphasize sooo much with the 3 brothers and their experience and journey thoughout the book.

The only thing is that i felt the ending a but rushed but i apart from that it was amazing

This is a lovely story set in a beautiful landscape, 3 siblings escape the system after a tragedy and trek across the wild just to stay together. I really enjoyed this as I love a snowy scene and it was a very real experience of what these kids went through.

Mountain Runaways is a young adult fiction book about the Gunnarssons, three siblings that are orphaned and as a result have to spend three months in the Albertan wilderness until the oldest, Jon, turns 18. Korka is 14, and Aron (the young viking) is 11

I received a copy of this book free of charge on net galley to review. All opinions are my own.

I'm not exactly familiar with survival based stories, and when I say that I mean that essentially this is the first one that I have ever read. However, I did love the CHERUB books which have a similiar tone but are about secret agents and not about survival I the wilderness.

This book is narrated in the second person but mostly through Jon. And I hate to say this but Jon is really boring. Like he is honestly so dull. The bits with Korka were fine, but the sections narrated through the mind of Aron were few and far between and considering he was non-verbal for most of the book (which it was made very clear wasn't due to autism and sort of gave a bad vibe of autism which, as a nuerodivergent person I did not appreciate).

The story was gripping, and I kept reading it to see what would happen, but something that really really bothered me was the fact that the Gunnarsson kids felt responsible for their parents finances. Which was sort of written as being acceptable. Like in the woods all of them have an epiphany that they should have done work, or given their parents their allowance. Which seemed weird. They are literally children.


Would I recommend it ?
Yeah for like 10-12 year olds I guess.

Would I read it again?
No

A story about family, grief and challenging situations. It was interesting learning about all the different kind of survival tactics, but I felt that the situation the children found themselves in was somewhat sugarcoated. Yes, they had it rough, but you never got the feeling that their lives were in real danger or that their actions had real consequences. So not quite perfect, but i enjoyed it overall.

The word "Runaways" in the title caught my attention on this one. I wasn't disappointed in the least as I read, either. I kid you not. This is such a believeable story of adventure and survival in the great Canadian oudoors (based loosely on the Willmore Wilderness Park, Alberta) I had to double check that this is fiction. Was sorry when the narrative ended, and it had me hopefully scrolling down in search of a next chapter.

Even though I'm not much of an outdoors person, especially of the "extreme" variety, following Jon, Korka,and Aron the runaway siblings, recently orphaned by their parents' fatal accident, was an adventure in and of itself. I felt like I was tagging along right there with them, experiencing all their ranges of emotions, conflicts and situation. I couldn't help but to cheer them on.

The developing leadership quality Jon exhibited and other lessons each of the children learned in relating to each other and of their own character strengths and weaknesses, and basically of surviving, using skills, which had been taught by their parents, created an excellently wholesome, escapade, which I highly recommend for readers of mostly the teenage category. However, I believe adults would thoroughly enjoy this especially if they are outdoors people used to pitting their endurance against wilderness conditions.

I vote a definite 5-STARs and thank NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to voluntarily review a review copy of this book.

~Eunice C., Reviewer/Blogger~

Disclaimer: This is my honest opinion based on the review copy given by NetGalley and the publisher.

This book is amazing.... I wasn't sure I'd like it at first. It has a lot of outdoors and survival aspect to it. I do like to take my time to read. But I give this book 5 flowers.

As anyone who knows me will be aware, I love books about siblings and their relationships. Especially siblings who are forced to face challenging situations without any adult input. So when I saw this book on NetGalley, I thought it was probably right up my alley.

It follows three siblings after their parents die in an avalanche just outside their front door. The entire family are extremely experienced outdoorsmen, the parents having run a survival school from the family home.

Rather than face the possibility of being separated in foster homes, or the youngest, Aron, who is largely non-verbal, being placed in a facility, the three kids flee into the wilderness. They are confident they have enough of a plan and enough knowledge to survive until Jon, the eldest, turns 18, despite it being mid-winter and having the ability to carry only a limited amount of supplies.

As you would expect in an outdoor adventure story like this, the path is not smooth for the trio. Shortly after they leave home, Aron becomes ill and they are forced to stop for several days while he recovers. And then Korka, the middle sibling, sprains her ankle and they are forced to hole up for even longer while she heals. Supplies become short and they would starve if not for Aron's sudden resourcefulness in hunting hares. A resourcefulness that reveals they are not alone in the woods...

I enjoyed this book, but really wanted the characters to struggle more. They argue, as siblings do, but it never gets much beyond petty bickering. None of the three seem to grow much as people through their ordeal, nor do they ever seem to get scared - even when challenging wolves or wildcats for meat they have caught. And despite the amount of time and resource the mountain rescue team must put into finding them, there is little in the way of consequences for them once they emerge back into civilization.

This is a quick, easy read that doesn't leave much on an emotional impact. If you're into survival stories and books that take place in the wilderness, then this one might be for you!

Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this early.

The premise was interesting. Three siblings are about to be torn apart after the tragic death of their parents and sent to different foster homes. The eldest, Jon , is close to turning 18. They decide to use their survival knowledge, taught to them by their parents, and run away into the wilderness to stay together until Jon is legally an adult.

As a fan of books like Hatchet growing up, this one caught my attention. Unfortunately, the writing was flat and didn’t carry such a heavy plot. There was a lot of telling, not showing, and the dialogue felt clunky at times. The ending felt a bit rushed. It was too nearly and quickly wrapped up after months of chaos. The siblings each had so much potential for exploring their individual personalities, but it never really happened. Korka, the middle sister, was a fascinating character and I wish that she had been fleshed out more.

There were lots of great tidbits about wilderness survival and the siblings are pitted against each other at times but also forced to come together to make it through the harsh conditions they face. It’s the story of family, grief and sibling broken that can’t be broken no matter the odds. Two and a half stars. It just didn’t quite pack enough punch with the writing style to grab me but the premise was a great one to use as a plot.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced ebook of this title!
'Mountain Runaways' follows three siblings Jon, Korka and Aron after the sudden death of their parents. They use the skills learned from their parents outdoor survival school to live in the wild for months until Jon turns eighteen and can become their legal guardian.
This was one of the most unique books I've read, as the interests of the characters and how these applied to the setting and plot were something I've never come across before. I felt this book was very well researched and learned a lot! I thought the author depicted a very realistic sibling relationship, as despite their circumstances they still bickered and fell out constantly. I think this is definitely what would happen in real life!
I had some issues with the writing style of this book- there was a lot of telling rather than showing, particularly at the beginning and end. The relationships that were established were supposed to seem very close and emotional but for me I didn't see anything to prove this enough- the character development also didn't seem to happen very naturally as there was a very abrupt change shown through the narrative rather than the characters actions. As a result of this I didn't really feel much for the characters, particularly the fourth we were introduced to. Similarly, in the epilogue we were told what had happened to the characters through a conversation that felt very awkward instead of being shown in a natural way. I also struggled with the switches between past and present tense and points of view, these felt a bit clunky and awkward to me.
Despite my issues with the writing, I did enjoy my time with this book and thought it was a very tense and fast paced story, that was easy to follow and I didn't want to put down. I sped through this book, and would definitely recommend it, particularly for younger ya readers.